Passenger arrivals Natal October 1880

Shipping Intelligence 1880 Dane, Quathlamba, Moor passenger arrivals

 Natal Witness 7 Oct 1880

South African Ancestry Research Q and A 3

Q  When did my ancestor arrive in South Africa and on which ship?

A  Passenger lists are not a good starting point. Organized emigration schemes are well-documented but if your ancestor paid his own passage as an independent traveller his arrival may remain invisible. Registers which have survived are not all-inclusive and are rarely indexed; steerage passengers are seldom named. It’s impossible to speak in terms of a national database of SA passenger arrivals or departures: no such source exists. Very few passenger lists are available online: someone has had to transcribe these from original registers held in archival repositories or from newspaper shipping columns. Those transcribed or otherwise captured so far remain the tip of the iceberg.

British Board of Trade records are available online from 1890 via findmypast and other sites. These may be helpful if your ancestor's surname was unusual, for example, enabling you to identify him or her on a passenger list. If his name was John Smith you will have some difficulty. Some approximate idea of a date of departure or port of destination is useful. By far the largest preponderance of names were going to US rather than to SA. A recent search for an Irish lady turned up hundreds of examples of her names - forename and surname - but only two of these were going to South Africa, the rest to US ports.

Rather than pinning your hopes on finding your forebear on a passenger list, focus on whether he eventually died in SA. If you fail to find a relevant deceased estate file, look for any other likely reference on the index: a divorce, an application for employment or even a mortgage bond. Be imaginative in your search terms. 

Emigrants boarding steamer 

Military pasengers to South Africa

A frequent query I receive concerns the arrival of military ancestors in South Africa. Unfortunately, passenger lists are not usually a helpful source in this instance.

Military men who might be aboard a ship going to join their regiment were seldom named; if they were, they were usually officers.  The rank and file were mentioned as a group, but are nameless. You could lose a lot of ancestors that way ...

The newspaper passenger list of July 1863 (for a coastal voyage) on this page shows that, in third class, there were 2 non-commissioned officers and six soldiers – no names, no regiment. No pack drill, as they say.

During times of war, when large numbers of troops were being carried across the ocean, there was undoubtedly no time to note down individual names in a regiment on board ship, and newspaper shipping columns didn't have the space to list them all anyway.

Passenger Lists Natal 1859

Passenger lists for the barque L'Imperatrice Eugenie and the screw-steamer Himalaya.
 Typically, there are no names given for troops of the 85th Regiment on board Himalaya.
Note also under Vessels Expected the two Dutch barques, Hermanus Isaak and Jan Van Brakel bringing emigrants to New Gelderland, Natal under Colenbrander's scheme.

Natal Mercury 14 April, 1849

Port Natal from the Berea by James West: shows Bluff (no lighthouse yet), Point 

and sailing vessels in the Bay.

Passenger lists: originals

Having mentioned the difficulties inherent in published passenger lists, we come to original handwritten lists. 

Firstly, these are not complete or cover all arrivals/departures, certainly as far as Natal records are concerned.

The page at left shows arrivals during 1845, early for Natal, and gives an idea of the lack of legibility - though the writing itself is not bad. Trawling through an entire register of similar entries would be time-consuming and hard on the eyes. There was no consistency in the way passengers were listed and seldom are any initials offered.

We do get the date of arrival and name of ship, sometimes the tonnage, and the captain's name. Occasionally we learn when the ship departed the port again and what her destination would be.

Arrivals and Departures: Port Natal

Passengers departing on Carisbrook Castle for Cape ports; Natal Witness 18 Feb 1905. (Copied from microfilmed newspaper and not very clear.)

SA passenger lists: the Bottom Line

If you're looking for an ancestor's arrival by ship in South Africa, this is the Bottom Line:

If your ancestor was part of organised emigration schemes such as the Byrne Settlers to Natal, there is a good chance that his arrival is well-documented.

If he was a Lone Ranger, travelling on his own or with wife and family, having paid for the passage out and under no obligation to settle in any particular location, it is more difficult to identify him on passenger lists - the original registers are not complete, press columns may not give initials, neither do they generally give children's names. See the example left.

In many instances, first class or 'cabin' passengers only are named, while hundreds of steerage passengers may be ignored. Rank and file of the military are not individually named.


The British BT passenger lists begin at 1890 which cuts out several decades of arrivals in South Africa. So while the online facility provided by findmypast etc is useful for finding ancestors destined for SA, this only applies after 1890. Earlier records were destroyed by the Board of Trade.

No cohesive effort has been made to index all passenger arrivals in South Africa. It is perhaps an impossible task to contemplate. EGGSA provides a welcome selection of arrivals at www.eggsa.org/arrivals/eGGSA%20Passenger%20Project.html but it is only the tip of the iceberg. Mole's Blog gives some Natal passenger lists. Local newspapers do have shipping columns but these are randomly offered and time-consuming to find.

Conclusion, it may not be the best place to start looking for an ancestor. Instead, try searching NAAIRS for a deceased estate which would contain the Death Notice.

Mole's Genealogy Blog Top Ten

Most popular posts:

More on Anglo-Boer War Ancestors
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-anglo-boer-war-ancestors.html

19th c German Immigrants in South Africa
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-19th-c-german-immigrants-in-south.html

Pruning the Family Tree
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/07/pruning-family-tree.html

Passenger Lists as a Primary Source
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/passenger-lists-as-primary-source-in-sa.html

Your Ancestor in the South African Constabulary
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/your-ancestor-in-south-african.html

Identifying Uniforms in Photographs
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/identifying-uniforms-in-photographs.html

Passengers to Natal 1865
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/passengers-to-natal-1865.html

19th c Immigration to South Africa
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/19th-c-immigration-to-south-africa.html

Caithness at Eling, Marchwood and Totton
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/caithness-at-eling-marchwood-and-totton.html

Mariners: The First Rung of the Ladder
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/mariners-first-rung-of-ladder-2.html

Passengers to Australia from Natal: Wee Tottie 1853

WEE TOTTIE departure for Australia Natal Witness 4 March 1853
plus other arrivals and departures:

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE
ARRIVED
Feb 24 - Margaret Gibson, brig, 148 tons, R Robinson from Liverpool 22nd Oct., to this port. 
Cargo sundries. 
EP Lamport, Agent.
Feb 28 - Anne, schooner, 99 tons, J Cameron, from Table Bay and Algoa Bay 20th, to this port. 
Cargo sundries. 
PASSENGERS 
Misses Loftie and Walker 
In the steerage 
Mr Jones 
J Brown, Agent.
SAILED
Feb 19 - Leontine Mary, F Fuller, to East London. 
PASSENGERS 
Mr Garbutt and wife 
Mr Trow, wife and 2 children 
Mrs Miles and 2 children 
Messrs 
Hawkins 
Tucker 
Clarkson 
Alexander 
Maitland 
Wilson

Natal Witness 4 March 1853

Feb 22 - Wee Tottie, J Roberts, to Australia. 
PASSENGERS 
Mr F Spring, late Postmaster General 
Mr and Mrs Schwikkard 
Mrs Warwick and 2 children 
Mr and Mrs Mullins and child 
Mr and Mrs McKeaney 
Mr and Mrs Trotter 
Mr Geddes, wife and 3 children 
Mrs and Mrs Greenaway 
Mr and Mrs O'Neil and child 
Mr and Mrs Bennett and 6 children 
Mr and Mrs Marianny and 3 children 
Mrs Blade 
Mr and Mrs Munro and child 
Mr and Mrs Fanning and child 
Mr and Mrs Hicks 
Mr and Mrs G Tomlinson 
Mr and Mrs Troy 
Mr and Mrs McKenna and child 
Mr Harris and 2 children 
Messrs 
Cope 
Milner 
Williams 
Kelley 
Hubbard 
Todd 
D Patterson 
Watt 
Jenkey 
Butler 
Fyvie 
Webber 
Taylor 
Barber 
Ashton 
Callain 
Thomas 
Strachan 
Holden 
Wilson


INSIDE 
Roscoe, 
Jackson and Co., agents. 
Margaret Gibson, R Robinson, for Mauritius. 
Lamport 
Anne, J Cameron, from Table Bay. 
Brown

VESSELS EXPECTED 
From London 
Louisa Maria, Trent, Vibilia, Augustus Schnader, Wanderer, and Lady of the Lake. 
From the Cape 
Sir Robert Peel, Steamer, J Boxer.

Wee Tottie A 1 at Lloyds: This vessel is now being
fitted up with superior accommodation for Passengers all this being in Enclosed
Cabins; and offers ... a most eligible opportunity for parties about to
proceed to Australia. An experienced Surgeon is engaged to
accompany the vessel, and every attention will be paid
to the comfort and requirements of the  passengers.

Finding passengers UK-SA after 1890

If you believe your ancestor travelled to South Africa by ship during or after 1890, your best bet for further information is to search findmypast.co.uk Passenger Lists under the Travel and Migration section of the site.

Not only can you search by surname, but also browse by name of ship. This may be the answer to a recent blog visitor’s query re the Grantully Castle’s movements in 1896. The Grantully Castle made three voyages between England and SA in that year, departing from Southampton in March, May and October. Further exploration – under passengers’ names - on findmypast should prove rewarding.

This ship was the first Grantully Castle, 3454 tons, built in 1880 and a sister ship to the first Kinfauns Castle. In December 1896 Grantully Castle ceased her work in the Cape service and was taken over by the Booth Line, with her name changed to Augustine, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. However, she traded between Liverpool and South America until 1912 before ending up in the breakers’ yard. Grantully Castle (2), 7617 tons, was built in 1910 – by Barclay Curle, Glasgow, as was the case with Grantully Castle (1).

Passengers travelling from England to South Africa in the early days of the Union and Castle Lines had various options as to port of departure. Union HQ was at Southampton, from where the steamer would leave for the Cape, with a stop at Plymouth for the mails. The Plymouth call ended in September 1888, ships then calling at Lisbon instead where late mails, sent overland via Paris, were taken on. A sleeping-car service was arranged between Paris and Lisbon. The arrangement for the mails at Lisbon came to end in 1891.

Currie Liners, based on London, made a stop for some hours at Dartmouth after leaving the Thames. This route was more popular than that of the Union Line because it provided a pleasant visit to the beautiful estuary of the River Dart. The fortnightly departure of the Donald Currie Steamer from Dartmouth was an event, bringing business to the small port – shore-visiting passengers from London as well as arrivals by rail who were to join the ship at the river.

By June 1891 the Currie steamers changed their route, departing from Southampton instead of Dartmouth, thus ending the latter port's golden era.  It was only after the amalgamation of the Union and Castle Lines in 1900 that all mail steamers were finally based on Southampton.

Passengers to Natal: Kinfauns Castle 1880 Natal Mounted Police

This steamer of Donald Currie’s Line sailed from London for Natal on 26 October 1880, carrying 15 recruits for the Natal Mounted Police. All the men were single; their ages are given, as well as their previous occupations.


Manning, Montague, 20, clerk
Davis, Oliver, 18, farmer’s son
Miller, William, 20, sailor
Rooney, William, 24, clerk
Pengilly (Pengelly?), Fred W C, 19, farmer
Gordon, H A W, 26, farmer
Watts, Isaac, 25, sheep farming
Couch, Claude, 20, assistant
Albert, Harry, 20, clerk
Doland, Edward, 20, agent
Searle, Henry Arthur, 18, army
Milward, Henry Arthur, 23, clerk
Cummings, Frank, 20, gas fitter
Eaton, Wallace Bertram, 21, warehouseman
Eaton, T A, 23, Cape Mounted Police

The list was signed by W Peace, Emigration Agent for Natal.

Passengers to Natal on Pharamond 1863

The Pharamond, a typical three-masted barque, 306 tons, arrived at Natal on 10 January 1863. Her voyage from London had taken 69 days.

Cabin Passengers:

Murphy, Dr and Mrs
Dearns, Mrs. and three children
Hare, Miss
Daggett, Mr and Mrs
Cotton, Miss
Crookenden, Messrs
Dill F J and son
Griffiths, H J
McNair, W
Pearse, Edward
Varty, T B
Chappel, Fredk
Davis, Walter
Gowenlock, James and Robert
Millon, E W
Roberts, John
Sandys, Edwin A
Sargent, Henry
Dowden, Henry

Travelling in steerage were:

Edwards, Henry and Catherine
Fielding, Charles
Grix, Richard and Henry
Edwards, W F
Edgcombe, Jane and Catherine
Hurst, William
Holms, David
Leige, N
McKinlay, J R and Jane
Moore, Thomas, Eliza, and Matt F
Padley, John
Reynolds, T H
Savil, Fredk
Sharples, H
Story J. and Ann
Walker, Fredk
Walton, Walker
White, Sarah
Wilson, John
Wootton, Henry, Sarah, Sarah, Henry, Anna, Thomas, John, Ellen
Alfred, R and H

Government Emigrants:

Arthur, James and Janet
Burne, John
Barker, James
Clarke, Anne
Clark, William, Jane, George, Ann J, William, Joseph, and Robert
Clark, Mary
Doig, D W
Fenton M., J B, and Margaretta
Francis, D F, Maria M, and Harriet M
Fenwick, R
Galbraith, E J
Guthrie, J
Graves, S A
Betsy, Martha and Mary
Gass, George, Ann, Alice, George and J C
Huntley, W, Martha, and G
Harmsworth, C and Julia
McDonnell, C, Jane and Mary
Moon, E
McNamara, M
Morris, James, Maria, Edwin J and Francis J
McRae, C
Pugeon, M A
Peckham, E, Sophia, Thomas, Harriet, Emily, and Edwin
Rockey, M A, John, Mary Ann, Harriett, and William
Rollinson, M F
Shaw, Joseph
Skoton, Francis
Tonkins, C
Thomson, E
Wing, Mary
Wilkinson, H C
Benzie, S., Emma, and Emma F
Simpson, J, ? illegible initial, M and E
Wall, Bridget

William and Jane Clark

Descendant Stuart Clark offers the fascinating results of his in-depth research into the Clark family (listed among the Government emigrants above) at

http://www.theclarksofclarkroad.com/papers_book2.html

Passengers to Natal: 1861

On 7 September 1861 the 329 t barque William Ackers arrived at Port Natal. According to the immigration register she had sailed from London on 1 June. Length of voyage from England to Natal varied considerably during the 1860s, partly because sailing vessels didn’t take anything resembling a straight course but tacked all over the ocean in pursuit of favourable winds. The clipper ships such as Priscilla and Verulam of the White Cross Line, built for speed, could do the trip in under two months. Priscilla set a record from Natal to England in November 1863 - 52 days – but that was exceptional.

William Ackers carried 64 emigrants, including Henry Dongworth, one of the Redhill reformatory boys mentioned in the recent series of posts on this blog.

Full list of passengers:

Abbott, Christopher
Beard, James R
Beard, Mary Ann
Beard, Mary Ann (dau)
Beard, James E
Crosse, Robert F
Crosse, Emeline
Crosse, Cecilia
Crosse, Frederick
Crosse, Bertie
Crosse, Claude
Dunn, Georgina
Jones, John T
Jones, Amy
Nimmo, Jane
Palmer, Thomas
Shearbridge/Shewbridge, Charles
Turpin, Emma
Andrews, John
Algers, George
Algers, Susannah
Bailey, Alfred
Candill, Joseph
Candill, Isabella
Candill, John
Candill, James
Chadwick, William
Clarke, William
Dongworth/Dougworth, Henry
Edwards, Edward
Ellenor, David
Frammer (?), William
Hick, Joseph
Harris, Henry
Hall, Thomas
Hoffman, Christian
Jordan, Margaret
Lyth, Thomas
Leech, William
Leech, Sarah
Massey, Matthew
Pastell, John
Teasdale, Mary
Teasdale, William
Teasdale, Helen
Teasdale, Robert
Thaxted(?), George
Waters, Hannah
Wood, Robert
Wheeler, Robert
Woodhouse, William
Oppenheimer, Alfred
Woodhouse, Jane
Woodhouse, Thomas
Woodhouse, William
Woodhouse, George
Woodhouse, Frederick
Woodhouse, James

Added at the foot of the list:
Charles Waters
Child Townsend

There is a slight disparity between the number of passengers supposed to have been on board and the actual number listed. This is not unusual in passenger registers.

The ship departed Natal for Mauritius on 3 November, 1861.

The 1861 voyage was a once-off visit to Natal by the William Ackers. More about this vessel at http://www.mightyseas.co.uk/marhist/maryport/william_ackers.htm

Passengers to Natal on the Umgeni, 1867

The Umgeni: arrival at Natal, 14 August 1867.

This barque of 365 tons under Capt J Stuart sailed from London on 15 July 1867, and was one of Rennie and Co's 'Aberdeen Direct' clippers which were frequent visitors at Natal. Others included L'Imperatrice Eugenie, Prince Alfred, Natal Star and Quathlamba.

Passengers per Umgeni from London, arriving at Natal
14 August 1867

Among the passengers were Captain Tollner, his wife Jessie (daughter of John Milne), and child (plus nurse). During the Crimean War Captain Tollner served with the Royal Horse Artillery at the Battle of Sebastopol. He had studied at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. During 1863/4 he was stationed at Fort Napier. Tollner also served during the Anglo-Zulu War. After the death of his first wife he married Mary Agnes (daughter of Alexander Gifford).


Capt and Mrs Fitzgerald may indicate a second military gentleman, plus spouse, on board. A well-known Natal name on the list is A E Runciman.

Testimonials to the Captain of the Umgeni
and a description of the voyage from Gravesend to Natal.
(Click on the pic for zoomed version.)

On this voyage, the Umgeni nearly lost one crew member overboard in a gale. The 46 passengers all expressed their thanks to the vigilant Captain Stuart via letters to the press.
A detailed account of the passage after Cape L'Agulhas mentions 'a very dangerous cross sea, which rose in pyramids...'. Note that the cabin passengers and those in steerage presented separate testimonials.

Looking at some recent blog enquiries.

A blog follower was looking for the passenger list of the Haidee, arriving at Natal October 7 1850. See

http://web.archive.org/web/20100404084004/http://www.genealogyworld.net/rose/maritime/b_haidee.html

There's a blog dedicated to the topic at  http://haideesettlers.blogspot.com/

Tiyo Soga

There have been several requests for information on Tiyo Soga. Enter these two words on the search facility on this blog for various posts.

Similarly, for details on immigration or settlers to Natal or passenger lists use the search facility on the Blogger toolbar at top left hand corner of the blog page. For more successful results search on the words 'passenger lists' and 'immigration' etc rather than 'manifest/s'. 


Alternatively browse through the archived posts using the right hand menu. 

Numerous queries come in weekly re the Boer War and there is some information available on this blog; again, use the search facility. If you Google those two words you'll get a deluge of hits, of course; save time and go to www.angloboerwar.com/

Incidentally, for the record, Mole is not my surname but my nickname (digging in the records being what I do) so if you are looking for information on the surname MOLE you won't find it on my blog.

Also, if you spell a word incorrectly when using the blog search facility (e.g. recabite instead of rechabite) no references will be found. Stating the obvious? You'd be surprised at how often it happens.

Passenger Arrivals and Departures: Natal 1863

Report of the departure of RMS Dane 'for Capetown and Intermediate ports', in the Natal Mercury of 3 July 1863, illustrates that troops on board were generally not named in published shipping lists. Officers occasionally were but here 2 non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and six soldiers, travelling Third Class, pass unidentified into history.

The port is very busy, with several vessels of heavy draught (for that era) waiting Outside, others which have already entered, and a number still 'expected'. This last is a useful feature when tracking an ancestor on a particular ship - for example, the column announces that the Maritzburg sailed from the Downs 1st March, so obviously a search forward for its arrival would be indicated.

The Dane, built in 1855, pioneered the Union Company's service to the Cape in 1857, inaugurating the mail service to that port. During her interesting career, she was later (1865) chartered by the Admiralty to convey stores to Zanzibar for the British naval forces engaged in the suppression of the slave trade on the east coast of Africa. Having left Simonstown on 28 November 1865 on her way to play this important role, she was stranded during her approach to Port Elizabeth and became a total wreck. Passengers and crew were safely taken off.

Passengers to Natal: 1865

Newspaper shipping columns can be unusually informative: this one, from the Natal Mercury of 25 April 1865, shows the arrival of R.M.S. Anglian at Natal. Names of First and Second Class passengers (regrettably omitting most initials) are given, including those who were continuing onward to Mauritius.

There's also a brief account of the voyage from Table Bay, arrival and departure times at the intermediate ports and comments on wind and weather. Interesting details to add to a family narrative.

The Anglian mentioned in this report was a coaster which had been built especially for the conveyance of mails between Natal and the Cape, a contract awarded to the Union Line in 1865. She was of a light draught so that whatever the tide she could cross the bar at the entrance channel to Durban's harbour. Also employed on the Mauritius run, she left the Union fleet in 1869 when she was bought by a Dublin company and her name changed to City of Lisbon. She sank in November 1903 after a collision during a voyage from Malaga to Liverpool; salvage being impossible, the remains of the wreck were blown up.

This Anglian is not to be confused with the later ship of the same name built in 1873, which made her maiden voyage with Barney Barnato on board, then an obscure passenger but later to emerge as one of the most successful of those who made their fortunes in the South African diamond fields.

Passenger List Project Update: eGGSA

Good news for family historians: the eGGSA Passenger List Project has been updated and now includes the Natal Immigration Board's list of immigrants 1850 to 1904, as well as the passenger lists from the departure notices in the British Mail 1879 to 1881. The database includes details of 27,000 passengers and 800 voyages.

http://www.eggsa.org/arrivals/eGGSA%20Passenger%20Project.html

This is an ongoing eGGSA project and the finished, searchable data is provided on the eGGSA web site.

The volunteers who are doing the work (photographing the records, co-ordinating the transcribers, transcribing, proof-reading and database creation) are members of the eGGSA, Eastern Cape, Natal Midlands, West Gauteng and Western Cape branches of the GSSA and live on four continents, Africa, Europe, America and Australia.

Passenger list of the William Ackers, 1861.

Passenger lists as a primary source in SA family history research

The above photo is of a passenger list taken from a handwritten register of arrivals at Port Natal in 1849 i.e. a record made at the time of the event and therefore considered to be primary evidence.
Even at normal size - zoom in for a closer look - the text is by no means easy to read.

Family historians in search of an ancestor's arrival in South Africa clamour for passenger lists. To find an original list mentioning an immigrant ancestor written in a register at the port of arrival is a rare and precious thing. There has been no concerted national effort to index the registers which have survived. In Natal it's fortunate that the European Immigration Registers have been preserved, though they are not all-inclusive. There is also an index (not online) to these arrivals covering from about the mid 1840s to the turn of the century. 

If you're lucky enough to discover in the original register an entry which seems likely to refer to your ancestor, and if you are able to read the handwriting, you should acquire some interesting facts.

From left to right (as seen in the typical example above) the columns of the register show: month, day, name of ship, type of ship, name of master, tonnage of vessel, port of departure, date of departure (that is from the port of embarkation, London in this instance). The passengers' names are written across the width of all these columns (no nice tidy alphabetical lists, if that's what you expected) and continued over the central binding, which has separated slightly (be aware of that when matching up lines of text). Generally, though, the condition of the register is good for its age - over 150 years. Careful handling of these volumes is important.

The arrival date of the barque Washington is given here as 18 July: in fact the vessel reached Natal on 17 July so why does the register offer the following day? The answer is that like many other ships of that era, the Washington had had to wait in the 'roads' (roadstead or outer anchorage) before suitable conditions of wind and tide made it possible to cross the Bar (the sandbank at the entrance to the harbour) and enter the Bay. When compiling our family narrative, which day should feature in an account of the ancestor's arrival at the port? The detail concerning tonnage of the ship often varies from source to source - if you care about getting it right.

In these early volumes (and the 1840s are early for Natal) no personal information such as occupation or age is given for the passengers. This would be one good reason to check newspaper reports at that time for any published versions of a passenger list and to do a comparative exercise.

There could be several versions of a passenger list particularly if the ship was carrying a large group of immigrants as part of a private or government scheme. Mistakes could arise prior to embarkation: passengers might get cold feet at the last minute and decide not to emigrate after all, family members might fall ill, perhaps die. Such names might not be removed from the passenger list - i.e. the list carried on board - before the ship sailed. When the vessel arrived at its destination, the Port Captain would draw up a list of the passengers who landed. The immigration agent would have his own list. By the time the reported list appeared in the press there were likely to be several discrepancies - incorrect initials, misspelled surnames, omissions.

A local newspaper published the passenger list of the Washington twice, because of errors in names shown in the first printing. Yet the first list offered occupations of the immigrants, a useful detail omitted in the second printing and not appearing in the handwritten register's version. Probably the occupations were included in the immigration agent's list made available to the press.

The Washington, because it was one of the Byrne settler ships, is well-documented in other published sources. John Clark's book, Natal Settler Agent, gives detailed lists of all the Byrne passengers and the ships which brought them to Natal. His sources included private correspondence and other documents of Moreland, Byrne's agent. So, if your ancestor travelled on the Washington it's probably not essential to access the original handwritten passenger register: but it is rewarding on some deeper level to see the ancestor's name as recorded at the point of arrival in the country of destination.

For further information on tracing ancestors through passenger lists, use the search facility on this blog or browse the archived posts using the menu at right.

The Natal Witness 18 July 1849: 2nd version of
Washington passenger list.

Update 2012: the eGGSA Passenger List Project is a work in progress and can be accessed at 

http://www.eggsa.org/arrivals/eGGSA%20Passenger%20Project.html

Newspaper passenger lists in family history: the Maritzburg, Natal 1863

The Natal Mercury of 7 July 1863 announced the arrival at Durban, two days earlier, of the barque Maritzburg, 536 tons, commanded by W L Eastham. She had left London on 4 April. Apart from various paying travellers (including seven members of the Pepworth family) and a general cargo, this ship carried 'Government Passengers' i.e. people emigrating to Natal under the assisted passage scheme. Sometimes such 'steerage' lists are not included in the press report, and may be found in a separate column of the same edition - or, if you're unlucky, not at all. 

This particular passenger list obligingly gives most, though not all, first names.

Having established the date of a ship's arrival it's usually worthwhile searching back a few weeks to find mention of her under 'Vessels Expected' in the shipping column. In the case of the Maritzburg, a reference in the 3 July edition reports that she had 'left the Downs' on 31 March. The same report gives her captain's surname as 'Earthian' but Eastham as shown in the arrival entry sounds much more likely - a good example of how names supplied by captain, Port Captain, or ship agent, could be misinterpreted in the press. 

Searching forward for more on the Maritzburg, in the Mercury of 10 July we find a brief paragraph in the shape of a testimonial to Captain Eastham and his Officers, 'signed by 67 passengers':  

So, three reports for the price of one, all within the same month and offering the family historian a bit more than the bare bones of a name on a passenger list.

Note: The Maritzburg was one of J T Rennie's Direct line of clippers, i.e. sailing from the Thames direct to Natal, the first of which to arrive at Durban was L'Imperatrice Eugenie, closely followed by the Prince Alfred, the Tugela, the Natal and Natal Star, the Umgeni, the Quathlamba and others.

Read more about 'The Colonial Clippers' in Basil Lubbock's book of that title.